Pop’s worries about struggling defense are legitimate

As the Spurs have finished the first quarter of their season, one constant for the team has been Coach Gregg Popovich’s bemoaning of the team’s defensive effort.

Popovich has blasted this unit as “the worst defensive unit we’ve had” almost since the start of the season.

Although Popovich hasn’t used the lockout and the shortened season as an excuse, he would have a valid one if he chose to use it. It’s true that this team is allowing one of the highest opposing field-goal percentages and scoring averages in his 16-season coaching tenure with the Spurs.

It’s interesting to note that shooting percentages and scoring are noticeably down across the league. But the Spurs’ efforts are putting them in reaches never seen by a Popovich-coached team — even the one the year before Tim Duncan arrived that notched a franchise-worst 20-62 record.

Here’s a gauge of the Spurs’ opposing field goal percentage and points allowed during the Popovich era and where those figures ranked in the league.

FG % RANK PTS ALL RANK

1997 47.1 25 98.3 19

1998 41.1 1 88.5 1

1999 40.2 1 84.7 3

2000 42.5 5 90.2 1

2001 41.9 2 88.4 3

2002 42.6 4 90.5 3

2003 42.7 3 90.4 3

2004 40. 9 1 84.3 1

2005 42.6 3 88.4 1

2006 43.3 3 88.8 2

2007 44.3 4 90.1 1

2008 44.4 5 90.6 3

2009 45.3 9 93.3 2

2010 45.2 12 96.3 8

2011 45.6 12 98.0 14

2012 46.2 26 95.7 20

The Spurs have especially struggled on the road this season as every opponent has shot at least 50 percent against them except for Orlando, which was playing the third game in three nights when the Magic dropped an 85-83 overtime victory to the Spurs on Jan. 18. All road opponents have scored at least 100 points against the Spurs except the Magic in that game.

Road opponents are hitting 50.8 percent against the Spurs and averaging 104.6 points per game. Those are historically low numbers for the Spurs in Popovich’s coaching tenure.

And that’s why the upcoming three games should be so interesting. The Spurs were blistered for 57.7 percent in an earlier 106-96 loss at Minnesota on Jan. 2. They beat Dallas and Memphis at home earlier in the season, but haven’t faced either playoff contender on the road yet.

Popovich hopes that his team can turn around the defensive struggles as the season continues. Or else, it could be a long, long season for all of Spurs Nation.